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Kyrie Irving To Grace The Cover Of NBA Live 14…Hopefully
EA Sports is giving its embattled NBA franchise another go, and has announced that Cleveland Cavaliers star point guard Kyrie Irving will be its cover athlete.[Exerpt]
“We couldn’t imagine a better cover athlete for our game than the dynamic, explosive Kyrie Irving,” said Daryl Holt, VP and GM of basketball for EA Sports. “Kyrie is one of the best ball handlers in the league, and with our next-generation technology we can arm players with the ability to replicate his impressive on-court feats, as well as the amazing signature styles and abilities of other pros in NBA Live 14.”
The "hopefully" in this story headline, of course, refers to EA's recent difficulties releasing its basketball titles. With both NBA Elite 11 and NBA Live 13 cancelled, the company hasn't successfully launched a hoops game since October of 2009 when NBA Live 10 came out.
Our Take:
Kyrie Irving is a great choice for the cover of NBA Live 14. While he doesn't have the worldwide recognition of rival NBA 2K14's Lebron James, basketball fans do know him as one of the sports rising young talents. And let's face it: there's no topping Lebron. The choice of Kyrie is also perhaps symbolic. Just as the Cavaliers are trying to rebuild from the aftermath of Lebron's high profile departure, NBA Live is trying to restore this once great franchise after a few years in the development wilderness. No matter who's on the cover, just shipping a basketball game of any kind this year will be a win for EA.
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